LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• describe and apply your own personal life story and the relationship this has to your understanding of identity and your role as a science educator
• describe your personal view of your role as a science educator
• identify the importance of identity and role of the teacher and student in the process of science education
• develop lesson sequences that include techniques and strategies that support the development of an academic identity for students that will enhance their outcomes.
Introduction
This chapter is the ‘mirror’ to Chapter 1.2. In Chapter 1.2 you considered some of the thinking and theory that explained the process of how your identity as a teacher of science develops over time. You were introduced to a number of aspects involved in the process, including identity as a psychological construct, the role, or behaviours that we associate with each of our identities, the importance of the emotional experience of teaching science and how these emotions influence all aspects of the identity-building process. We also highlighted the importance of support from other people. In this chapter we will look at several specific strategies that you might use throughout your teaching career that will allow you to take personal control of your own identity-building process, to ensure that you become the teacher that you want to be. You will commence with a consideration of how your own personal life story has contributed to who you consider yourself to be as a science educator. The importance of aesthetic experiences in teaching will then be examined and will include techniques that will assist you in understanding your experiences. The chapter concludes with a description of a number of techniques that might be used to assist you in developing the academic identity of students.
OPENING VIGNETTE
Consider the story below where an early career science teacher has been required to teach out-of-field in mathematics, an experience that nearly all teachers of science at the secondary level will be faced with, particularly during their early career. Pauline reflects on how she struggled to use a ‘storied’ teaching approach from her science teaching into maths:
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